Countdown to tipoff: Clemson in position for top 4 seed in ACC Tournament
By: will-vandervort March 3, 2018

Clemson has an opportunity to place as high as No. 3 in next week’s ACC Basketball Tournament in Brooklyn, N.Y., when it plays at Syracuse in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y., today at 2 p.m.

A Tigers’ win coupled with a Duke win over North Carolina later tonight could land the Tigers as the No. 3 seed in the AC Tournament. A win also lands the Tigers, regardless of what happens in the Duke game, in the top 4 and the coveted two-day bye and an automatic berth in the ACC’s quarterfinal round.

Clemson can also earn a two-day bye if Miami beats Virginia Tech this afternoon. If Virginia Tech wins and the Tigers lose, Clemson could fall all the way down to the No. 6 seed in the tournament and will earn just a one-day bye.

Different scenarios for Clemson and what happens if they win or lose today can be found below.

GAMEDAY SETUP

CLEMSON (22-7, 11-6 ACC) at SYRACUSE (18-12, 7-10 ACC)

Date: Today

Tipoff: 2 p.m. ET

Arena: Carrier Dome (35,446)

Radio: CTN (Don Munson-pbp; Tim Bourret-color)

TV: ACCN (Evan Lepler-pbp; Jason Capel-color)

  • Clemson is 4-2 all-time against Syracuse.
  • The Tigers have won two-out-of-the-last-three matchups.
  • Clemson clinched the sixth 15-win season at home. It ties for the regular season win record in program history.
  • With a win at Syracuse, Clemson can clinch its most wins under head coach Brad Brownell at Clemson with 23. It would mark the most regular season wins under Brownell in his tenure at Clemson.
  • Clemson’s adjusted defensive efficiency ranks 5th (93.0) nationally. Last season the Tigers finished ranked 86th (100.5).

SERIES HISTORY
CU Series W-L record: Clemson is 4-2 all-time against Syracuse.
Streak: None.

TIGER TRACKS

  • With wins over Georgia Tech and Florida State to close out February, the Tigers clinched winning months in both January and February for the first time since 1990.
  • The Tigers’ win over Florida State marked a new program record for ACC wins during the regular season with 11. The 11 wins ties for the most all-time in any conference for Clemson. (Posted 11 wins in the Southern Conference in 1951-52).
  • Marcquise Reed tallied his 10th 20-point outing of the season with 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting in a 13-point win over Florida State (Feb. 28).
  • Gabe DeVoe remains 11th all-time in the Clemson record book for threes in a career (154). He needs just one more to tie for 10th.
  • Clemson tied for the third most home wins in a single season with 15 (79-80; 86-87; 10-11). It ties for the most in program history during the regular season.
  • In 2006-07 and 2013-14, three of the Tigers’ record 16 home wins came during postseason play in the NIT – so they achieved 13 in regular season play.

What happens if CU WINS (3 or 4 seed):
A Duke win means… 2 seed-Duke; 3 seed-Clemson
A UNC win means… 2 seed-UNC; 3 seed-Duke; 4 seed-Clemson

What happens if CU LOSES vs Cuse (3-6 seed):
IF Clemson loses, it needs to have VT lose as well.
If VT wins, then Clemson cannot get a double bye with a loss and could drop all the way to 6 seed.
IF Miami beats VT, then Clemson is guaranteed a 3 or 4 seed even with a loss.

How CU gets a 3 seed:
3 way tie for 3rd place with UNC and Miami; (CU loss, Duke beats UNC, MIA beats VT, NC State loses)
*In this case Clemson has the best winning percentage within the group (2-1 vs. 1-1 for Mia and 1-2 for UNC)

How CU gets a 4 seed:
2 way tie for 4th place with Miami; (CU loss, UNC beats Duke, MIAMI beats VT, NC State loses)
*CU has head-to-head Win vs. Miami
3 way tie for 4th place with Miami & NC State; (CU loss, UNC beat Duke, MIA beats VT, NC State wins)
*UNC beats Duke and is 2 seed and Duke is 3 seed. Clemson has best winning percentage in group with MIA and NC State (2-1 vs. 1-1 vs. 1-2)
4 way tie for 3rd place with Miami, UNC, NC State; (CU loss, Duke beats UNC, Miami beats VT and NC State loss)
*Miami (2-1) has best in group winning percentage so they get 3 seed. Clemson is next (3-2) and earns 4 seed. NC State gets 5 seed because of 1-0 record vs. Duke while UNC is 6 seed based on same in group as NC State but 1-1 record vs. Duke.

How CU gets a 5 seed:
2 way tie with VT for 4th place; (Clemson loss, UNC beats Duke, VT beats Miami,, NC State loss)
*VT has head-to-head win over Clemson.
3 way tie for 3rd place with VT and UNC; (Clemson loss, Duke beats UNC, VT beats Miami, NC State loss)
*VT gets 3rd place with group winning percentage. UNC gets 4th place by being 1-1 vs. Duke while Clemson gets 5th seed due to 0-1 vs Duke

How Clemson gets a 6 seed:
3 way tie for 4th place with VT and NC State; (CU loss, UNC beats Duke, VT beat Miami, NC State wins)
*VT has best in group winning percentage and gets the 4, NC State gets the 5 over Clemson because of their W vs. Duke (both CU and NC State lost to UVA and split with UNC)
4 way tie for 3rd place with VT, UNC, NC State; (CU loss, Duke beats UNC, VT beats Miami, NC State wins)
*VT gets the 3 based on in group winning percentage. CU, UNC, NC State all split with each other and lost to VT and UVA so the record against Duke becomes the deciding factor. NC State gets the 4 (1-0), UNC gets 5 (1-1) and Clemson is 6th (0-1).

–Thanks to poster jslacktiger for scenario information